Homecoming

by Heath Stallcup

“Just a moment ago, I’m assuming they still are.” Pablo lowered his eyes then quickly spoke in Portuguese to his men. They all lowered their weapons and relaxed somewhat. “I was on the radio with one of your people. There was some noise and they said that they were under attack. Somebody was going after their communications arrays. Then…silence.”

  “Oh no…” Laura felt a pair of strong hands take her by the shoulder just before her legs went out from under her.

  *****

  Sheridan sat in the van marked as a telephone repair service vehicle across from the hangar and watched as his wolves attacked. They performed nearly flawlessly. He would have expected better reactions and better timing from his crew with Team One, but considering these men weren’t trained like they were, he was more than satisfied.

  He watched as the lights went out and the emergency lighting came up, just as Apollo said it would. He almost felt sad for the security personnel in the guard shacks. They never suspected the sniper rounds that shattered their skulls and sprayed their brains on the inside of the shacks. The people working ‘topside’ as they called it didn’t expect the invasion and were quickly mowed down.

  How any military group could allow their people to work unarmed, he didn’t understand; especially a group like this one. Every man, woman, and technician should be armed at all times, but then, he wasn’t in command. Mitchell was.

  Sheridan radioed contacts that he could see to the wolves attacking that they might not be aware of. When two men came around from the outside and tried to enter from a side door, they were shot through the thin metal walls of the hangar without missing a beat. Sheridan simply smiled as he continued to coordinate the attack.

  Once the hangar itself was secured, he stationed his men on each side and toward the rear in a funnel formation. Then as troops exited the lower levels, it was literally like shooting fish in a barrel. They didn’t stand a chance.

  *****

  “That’s odd,” the Chinook pilot stated as he continued to flip through different frequencies.

  “What’s that?” Dom asked as he leaned against the chopper, bored out of his skull.

  “The OPCOM. It went off the air.”

  Dom nodded. “Yeah. We’ve had com problems all through this op.”

  “Well duh.” The pilot pointed to the hillside where the larger troll laid slowly dissolving in its own acid secretions. “Bigfoot over there stepped on one of your guys’ rucksack.”

  Dom shrugged. “So.”

  “He was the guy carrying the transceiver.” The pilot continued to try different settings on his radio. “But we had coms from the time we left until…well, just a moment ago.”

  Dom stared off at the dead troll and shook his head. “Well I’ll be.”

  “This isn’t right.” The pilot turned his attention fully to the radio. “They should be right here.”

  Dom turned and glanced over his shoulder. “Somebody probably kicked a cord or something.”

  “No,” the pilot shook his head, “it doesn’t work that way. Our coms are both radio and satellite. In order for us to lose both…”

  Dom suddenly sobered. “Wait. You have both?”

  “Yeah. Well, we did. We don’t now.”

  “So…” Dom waved him on.

  “In order for us to lose both, OPCOM would have to go dark.”

  “They can’t go dark anymore. Colonel Mitchell had backups installed just so that couldn’t happen again.” Dom suddenly became worried.

  “Exactly.” The pilot shook his head.

  Dom stared up into the sky to see if the drones were still in the air. “Where is our air support?”

  “Sent back as soon as we landed.”

  Dom ground his teeth together then keyed his mic. “Sierra Group, converge on me.”

  “What are you doing?” the pilot asked. “The cleanup guys aren’t done yet and—”

  “And you said it yourself. If the OPCOM is off the air, something is wrong. You’re taking us back. Now.” Dom crawled into the back of the chopper and pushed the door all the way open.

  “Now hold on just a cotton picking minute. You don’t have the authority to—” Dom leveled his weapon at the pilot and released the safety. “I mean…uh…right. We should investigate.”

  “Sierra Three, notify the cleanup crews that they’re on their own until we return. It may be nothing, but there may be trouble back at base.”

  “Copy that, Sierra One.”

  *****

  Apollo stared intently out the front windshield of the stolen helicopter as the two cigarette boats raced across the water. They had followed from a safe distance the tracking device that had been planted on the hull of the Monterey when it came to pick up the squad members. Apollo really thought he’d have mixed feelings about rushing in to kill his own squad mates, but he thought wrong. He felt nothing. He was empty inside.

  As the chopper approached the island the copilot came across the coms. “I think they’ve made us. They’re scrambling.”

  Apollo patted the man’s shoulder. “Secure running dark.”

  The chopper suddenly flipped on all lights, including a brilliantly bright search light. Both boats did the same a moment later. “Give me a good side view. I have a few surprises for them.”

  “Roger that, sir.”

  Apollo hooked his cable to the overhead track and slid open the side door. Kicking a lever, a machine gun mount flipped out and ready. Apollo grabbed the handles and began firing wildly at the stone castle below. Any window that had light behind it was a fair target. Tracer round indicated that his aim was right on and the damage the .30 caliber rounds made seemed phenomenal.

  He could feel the heat blowing back off of the weapon and actually feared overheating it. He forced himself to let go of the trigger and step back. He pulled one of the RPG’s from the back wall and fired for what appeared to be the front doors. He watched the trail from weapon burn a streak into the night before splintering the massive wood double doors. “Hoo-yah!”

  Wolves disembarked from the two boats and scattered across the island, firing wildly at the buildings. Return fire from all directions found their target with some, dropping them in the soft white sand, their blood staining it red. The defenders were smart enough to stay hidden and Apollo cursed as he continued to fire blindly, praying that his bullet would find Jack if nobody else. He was the one who placated him the most. Pretended to be his friend and keep him on an even keel while the Padre played slap and tickle with the woman he loved.

  Apollo’s vision turned red as he thought of the Padre and Maria…caught in each other’s embrace. Sweating, touching…kissing. He screamed as he pulled the trigger, spraying the area again with hot stolen silver rounds. “Stick your head out here and take it like a man!”

  *****

  Robert Mueller slid in the soft sand at the back door of the bungalow that he and his family shared. The lights were all out and the small building was mostly obscured by the decorative palms and the woods of the area. Robert was turning the door knob of the back door as it suddenly lurched open, a gun barrel shoved into his face. “Don’t move!”

  Robert froze his hands in the air. “Babs! It’s me,” he whispered.

  “Oh, my God, Robert!” She pulled him inside and wrapped her arms around him. “I nearly shot you!”

  “Shh, we don’t have time right now.” He pulled her to the back door and popped his head up to ensure it was clear. “You need to take Bobby and get into the woods. Go all the way to the far side of the island if you have to, but get to safety!”

  “No, Robert, we’re going to stay here and—” her words were cut short as a series of rounds ripped through the front of the house and shattered a glass vase.

  “You will, and you’ll be damned quiet about it,” Robert insisted. “Go! Now!”

  “What about you?” He could just make out her tear streaked face in the pale moonlight.

  “I have a job to do. I have to stop these sons of bitches so you an
d Bobby can come back.” He pulled her close and kissed her quickly. “Now…go. Please. Don’t look back. Just run. Now!” He pulled the door open and watched Barbara duck walk out to the rear porch, Bobby in tow.

  “Dad, I can help you,” he pleaded.

  “I know you can, buddy. You can help me most by keeping mom safe. Please,” Robert begged his son. “Keep mom safe. I’m counting on you.”

  Bobby set his jaw and nodded. “You can count on me.”

  “I knew I could. Now go. Fast.” Robert all but pushed the pair out the door and watched them disappear into the moonlight. He glanced up to the night sky and crossed himself. “Please? Keep them safe.”

  He pulled the pistol from his waistband and shot back out the door and into the fray.

  *****

  Little John was nearly shaking with anger as he got second hand reports about the situation topside. Security was pinned down in the stairwells and communications had been cut off. He looked to Spanky. “There has to be something we can do. We’re fucking operators.”

  Darren nodded as he sat and thought. “We’re pinned down. Weapons locker is down there. Bad guys are up there. We’re stuck in the middle.”

  “You seem awfully calm about this.” Little John paced nervously, clenching and unclenching his fists.

  Darren nodded again. “Well, getting upset won’t do much at the moment. I’m trying to think of what we have at our disposal.”

  John paused and pointed over Darren’s shoulder. “We have that.”

  Darren stared at the large black, armor clad truck with the .30 caliber machine gun mounted to the rear. “Yes we do. But, and this is a really BIG but…how do we get it from down here, back up there?”

  John shrugged. “How the hell did they get it down here?”

  Darren pointed to the platform it rested on. “The lift.”

  “Then we use the damned lift again.”

  Spalding pointed up. John looked and saw a solid roof. “We don’t know how to open that.”

  “Who does?” John was ready to jump out of his skin wanting to retaliate.

  Spalding shook his head. “I have no…wait. Doc.” He stood and walked to the phone. Dialing Doctor Peter’s lab he waited. Darren was actually surprised when Evan answered. “Doc, this is Spalding. How do we open the floor to get the Raptor topside?”

  “You want to do what?” Evan was suddenly confused.

  “It’s the only weapon we have and it’s a way to get past those asshats without fighting our way through the stairwells. How do we get the truck up through the floor?”

  “Oh…um…just start the lift. The floor will open as it approaches. It’s on a switch.”

  “And the lift switch is where?”

  “On the wall, big red lever that says, LIFT.”

  Darren hung up. “Flip that red lever and get your ass back over here.”

  “What’s that?”

  “That’s our ride topside.”

  *****

  Rufus stumbled as an explosion rocked the wall and bits of debris flew inward. “Who the hell is it?” Paul screamed through the noise. “It can’t be the council.”

  “Non, even the council is not that dishonorable.” Rufus got back to his feet and leaned against a doorway, attempting to get his bearing. “When they agree to something, they stick to it. If they truly wanted to kill us, they would wait until we came to them and then kill us.”

  “Yeah, that’s the honorable thing to do.” Paul stumbled to a window and leaned against a wall trying to peek outside. “They’re everywhere. I can’t tell who is who.” Suddenly the attackers began shifting and leaping the great stone wall. “Oh my…they’re wolves.” He turned worried eyes to Rufus.

  “Wolves?”

  “Wolves!”

  Rufus inhaled deeply and nodded. “We have wolves of our own. They will take care of this threat.”

  A helicopter hovered near the window and the room erupted with weapons fire. Rufus flattened himself as silver shards rained down upon his prone body, burning his skin. Paul flattened himself against the stone wall and prayed that none of the rounds could penetrate the thick rock. A flaming hiss shot through the room and hallway engulfing the room across the hall in a fireball and shrapnel.

  “RPG I assume,” Rufus shouted from the floor.

  “I don’t know. My eyes are closed,” Paul cried. “Does God listen to vampire prayers?”

  “Oui, but mostly He says non.”

  “Fucking great.” Paul slid down the wall and wrapped his arms around his knees.

  The helicopter worked its way down the side of the castle, firing into more and more windows as it did. Rufus slowly pulled himself to his feet and pushed the debris of the room out of his way. He looked out the window at the carnage below and mayhem taking place. “This must end.”

  “I agree!” Paul tried to slither under what was left of the bed but found the way blocked.

  Rufus huffed and turned to Paul. “Come. We must end this.”

  “We? You didn’t just say ‘we’, did you? Because I think all of my bravery just ran down my leg. I wouldn’t want you to slip in it…”

  “The weapon.” Rufus held his hand out for Paul.

  “The…the…wait. You mean, the weapon? The nuclear option?”

  “Oui.” Rufus thrust his hand out again and Paul saw his own hand grab his brothers. He had no memory of telling it to do so, but it did it. Damned, traitorous hand…

  Rufus pulled him to his feet and the two set off down the hallway for the study.

  *****

  Horith stepped in and out of the anywhere, his bow singing in the night. He had taken a position near the main gate of the rock wall and suddenly wished that he had tipped his arrows in silver. He mistakenly thought the men attacking them were simply men until they began shifting. “Kalen! Beware! They are wolves!”

  Kalen nodded from the watchtower, his knives flying in the darkness, the soft moonlight reflecting and glinting off the razor sharp edges. While few of them had silver, they could still do damage and it would take the wolves time to heal.

  He watched a man run from the docks and leap into the air, shimmer and shift only to disappear before he could hit the ground. A large black shape lifted the dark haired creature up and into the night air. A screaming growl came from high overhead before two wet and sickening thumps hit the rooftop behind him. Kalen knew that Grimlock had struck, even if he couldn’t see him.

  Three small creatures scurried across the sand, chasing a wolf that was about to leap on a uniformed soldier. As the wolf launched itself at the human hunter, it was suddenly tackled in midair. The four tumbled to the side and through the slashing teeth and claws, the three warrior gnomes emerged from the fray carrying a bloody axe and a wolf head. Kalen smiled as he observed the bravery of the gnomes and the efficiency of the kill.

  A large gust of wind beside him caused Kalen to slip back into the anywhere. Gideon landed deftly next to where he had been standing in the watchtower. “They’ve scattered but they are still fighting. There were more than I thought.”

  Kalen slipped back out from the anywhere and pointed to the flying machine. “That is causing more damage than should be allowed.”

  Gideon nodded and whistled to his brothers. “We’ll kill it.” With a great push of his legs and upbeat of his wings, he took to the air.

  Kalen watched as two wolves hovered near the tree line. They seemed to be watching him…no. They were watching Horith. “Brother! The tree line!”

  Horith glanced toward the trees and spotted the two dark shapes. Drawing two arrows, he nocked them both and let them fly. Although the distance made it difficult to tell for sure, the yelp of one of the wolves told him that he’d hit at least one mark.

  Kalen scanned the area then looked to the rear of the tower. He spotted a wolf descending on Horith. His blood ran cold as he saw the animal’s haunches lower and prepare to strike. “Behind you!” He tried to throw a blade but it was short. The wolf had a
lready leapt.

  Horith heard Kalen’s warning and immediately slipped into the anywhere. The wolf tackled him and slipped into the anywhere with him. Kalen stood dumbstruck for a moment as he tried to process what just occurred. He immediately slipped into the anywhere and searched for his brother. In the anywhere, their distance could be mere feet or hundreds of meters. Proximity in this plane didn’t correlate in the anywhere.

  Kalen heard the struggle and the growling of the wolf as it stuck his brother. He ran as fast as he could to close the distance. The mist and twilight of the anywhere made it difficult to see and Kalen called out. “Horith! Where are you?”

  A gurgling sound and a thump caused his heart to skip a beat and Kalen quickly closed the distance. He found the wolf standing over his brother’s body and Kalen immediately pulled another blade. With a primal scream he leapt, ready to pierce the beast’s heart but the wolf slowly teetered and fell over, an arrow through its eye socket and sticking out the rear of its skull.

  Kalen slid to a halt near his brother’s body. “Horith? Please be unharmed.”

  Horith leaned up on his elbows and shook his head. “I wish it were so.” His voice sounded weak and Kalen had yet to see the extent of the damage.

  “Let me help you stand.” Kalen took his hand and Horith pushed him away.

  “Not this time.” He pushed the legs of the wolf off of him and Kalen saw the ragged tear that began at his chest and ended at his navel. His intestines were visible and Kalen felt a hitch in his throat.

  “What do I do?” He dropped to his knees and grabbed his brother’s hand. “Tell me, Horith.”

  “Send me to the Wyldwood. If I can be saved, it will be through her.” Horith reached for his wrist band and pulled it off. He handed it to his younger brother. “You are the gatekeeper now.”

  Kalen shook his head slowly. “No…I’m not ready to…”

  “Send me to the Wyldwood.” His voice was nearly a whisper and Kalen knew he had little time. He inhaled deeply and nodded.